An Old-World Lake Garda Wedding Worthy of a Gilded Frame

A Closer Look

Most weddings hang like paintings, viewed from a polite distance. Miranda and Chadd's pulled guests into the frame. Twelve years into their story, the couple married on Isola del Garda, a private island in Lake Garda, and Pure Lavish Events built a day guests could take part in.

The morning came in watercolor. The lake, the soft early light and Miranda's bridesmaids in matching powder-blue pajama sets kept the villa grounds pale and cool. That palette set up the trip guests were about to take, across the water to an old-world villa that grew deeper and richer the farther inside they went. For the ceremony Miranda wore Lee Petra Grebenau lace that rose to a high collar and ran the length of her arms, with a cathedral-length veil behind her and a loose burgundy bouquet. Chadd wore Ralph Lauren black tie.

Guests made that crossing by boat, and an Aperol Spritz greeted them before they gathered on the loggia of Villa Borghese-Cavazza. There the blues gave way to Venetian Gothic arches, a frescoed ceiling and a live quartet. With that much spectacle overhead, the design didn't compete. White chiffon wrapped the seating, and Ottavia Bosco stacked hydrangeas in burgundy and moss green into columns beside the pillars, dark enough to hold their own against the stone.

By cocktail hour, guests had stopped admiring the canvas and started posing for it. In the villa's gardens, where the hedges work the De Ferrari family crest into the landscape, a caviar bar opened at sunset and a run of stations made something for each guest to keep. A live engraver personalized vintage silver and gold Zippo lighters. A fashion illustrator turned the garden into a studio and sketched guests in their wedding looks. Then there was the perfume bar, where Collezione XII, named for their years together, was spelled out on a burgundy velvet banner. The couple picked every scent themselves, and even years from now, a single breath will put guests right back on the island.

Then guests followed the sound of a saxophone into the marquee, where loosely swagged drapery and crystal chandeliers hung over serpentine tables in patterned linens. Burgundy velvet napkins brought the ceremony's color inside. Figs lay split open beside halved pomegranates and pears, and grapes spilled across the tables. Under candlelight, every table read like a still life from a Baroque master's studio. Before the first of three Italian courses, the art came alive. A film of Miranda and Chadd's love story was projected onto the fabric behind their table, and for a few minutes, the people who had spent all day inside the wedding sat back and watched how the story opened.

After dinner, the evening changed costume. Chadd switched to a white dinner jacket, and Miranda traded her gown for a feathered mini. The lace had been for the old villa. The feathers were for the party it became. Spotlights cut through the chandeliers and swept a black-and-white checkered floor, the saxophone played on, and a tower of tiramisu waited for whoever still had room. Villa Borghese-Cavazza has held its frescoes over the lake for generations. Miranda and Chadd's took twelve years to paint, and its final strokes went down on the dance floor with the guests in the picture.